The Arriving
by KRenee
Summary: Itachi dies, and the Afterlife is nothing like he expected. He had hoped to just die and end up wherever he would end up, but apparently "Limbo" was a bit understaffed. Among assassination attempts and terrible excuses for Gods, he finds himself caught in the midst of something terrible. Prequel to G-ChanSanKun's "The Fated."
1. He Arrives

**A/N**

**This story is a PREQUEL to a collaboration that I may or may not post on this site as well. This story follows a slightly skewed version of Naruto, with the addition of some intelligence for Sasuke, as well as an OC named Son Juritsu.**

**Summary of the stuff that happened before and during the events of this story:  
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_Shortly after Itachi died, Sasuke found out the truth about the Uchiha Massacre from Tobi. Shortly after learning such truth, he allowed Juritsu to bring him back to Konoha. He was reinstated as a shinobi after showing that he had no intentions of harming anyone. While he was kept under strict supervision for many months, Sasuke didn't falter. Juritsu was sent out on a long-term mission sometimes in early summer, taking with her a constant worry that perhaps something was wrong after all._

_Once he had successfully earned the trust of the village, Sasuke went to kill the Elders and Danzo - to make them pay for what they had done to his clan. Unfortunately, before he could get to his intended targets, he was caught by ANBU, and then several jounin. Unable to persuade them to get out of his way and let him kill the Elders, Sasuke killed them. And then he killed the other shinobi who tried to stop him, and then the chuunin and the genin and the villagers... eventually all of Konoha was in flames._

_Juritsu returned to Konoha a few days earlier than what had been expected. She came home to find her village in flames. She ran through, calling the names of her comrades, only to find their bodies as she rushed towards the last two sources of chakra - Sakura and Sasuke. She arrived just in time to watch Sasuke kill Sakura. Sakura died in Juritsu's arms, and after Sasuke threatened to kill her as well all Juritsu could do was run._

_Meanwhile, Itachi was dead...**  
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><p><strong><em>The Arriving<em>**

.

If there was one thing he could say for certain, it was that he hadn't expected his death to start out in such a fashion. Shortly after departing, taking only one last glance behind him to see if Sasuke was alright, he was greeted by a short, fat little man. No names were exchanged as he was shoved into a line and pushed forward into a crowd. Eventually, he came to know that he was supposed to be finding the Registration Desk so that he could get his Folder.

When he did find all of this out, the actual task of getting to were he needed to be wasn't hard. He found a pattern in the crowd and realized that it wasn't a crowd; it was a series of lines. They just looked like a crowd because apparently, even in death, nobody knew how to stand directly behind the person in front of them. They had to lean to the side or stand slightly off so that they could see around the people in front of them.

Itachi vaguely remembered watching Sasuke do that as a child. Curious children he understood, but seriously… these people were _adults_, or so he presumed.

A few times, he could've sworn that he glanced around and spotted a spark of bright blond hair spiking up around the crowd, but he was denying himself the ideas that were instantly appearing.

Eventually, Itachi reached the front of the line, which took maybe three years or three hours. He was handed a thick folder contained in a binder. It was labeled with big, bolded letters; "UCHIHA ITACHI" and it had a small Uchiha fan in the top left corner. He wondered briefly if the noble clans had that kind of thing on them. The secretary, a scrawny older woman, was scowling at him, telling him to go down a hall to his left to find the Senders. He had no idea who the Senders were, naturally, so he simply followed the directions he was given. He came face to face with a younger looking man, who opened a large mahogany door after briefly looking over the file that Itachi had been given.

He hadn't actually thought that going to the afterlife, whatever it may be, was going to be such a tiresome thing to do. He'd fully expected that he'd die and go straight to the place that he was going, but apparently the area that was being referred to by seemingly everyone as "Limbo" was slightly understaffed.

The mahogany doors opened, and he was taken into a place that was remarkably similar to a hotel. He looked around in surprise, taken away from his gaping only after he heard his name called.

"Uchiha Itachi?" It was a woman, younger than he by a small margin. She smiled at him politely, expectantly waiting for him to approach. He did after a split second of thought, fully prepared to present his file to her, like he had been to apparently everyone else. He was just about to lift it up, but she didn't even look up as she went through her own list of names. She found him, pulled out a key and handed it to him.

"Third floor, room 345." He nodded slowly, taking the key from her and heading for the stairs. His legs were still sore from fighting with Sasuke, it seemed, but the majority of his injuries had healed. His lungs still burned from the illness, but the pain was steadily fading as he climbed the stairs. It didn't take him long to reach his floor, and he found his room with equal ease. The lock clicked, and he pushed the door open, surprised by the tidiness and overall comfort of the room. The carpet was plush, the soft feeling incredible. He crouched down, taking off his shoes and putting them into the closet. He no longer had his Akatsuki cloak, but his clothes were also not in the best of shape. He glanced around the room, his eyes finding a deep blue colored pile on the bed. He stepped over to it, his toes almost curling in pleasure around the plushy surface they tread upon. He picked up the object on top, finding it to be a simple, dark blue button up with matching black slacks, and a pair of optional white socks. He let out a slightly relieved sigh, and took the pile, heading for the bathroom he'd spotted earlier beside the door.

The water was hot, and it seemed to wash away the left over injuries from his battle with Sasuke. His muscles relaxed their stiffness and steadily knotting portions were soothed by the hot water. He sighed again, filling his palm with shampoo and lathering it heavily in his hair. He hadn't had the chance to have a proper shower in a long time. If this was his afterlife, he wouldn't mind it at all. Just the idea of being able to take a hot shower daily was like a treat. He hoped that wherever he ended up had hot water.

When he stepped out into the much cooler air, he was happy to see that there was an arrangement of combs and brushes set out for the inhabitants of the room. He picked one and went through the meager yet annoying task of brushing his hair, which had significantly knotted since his fight with Sasuke, and had only gotten worse from the water. He wished he'd noticed the brushes beforehand. In a ponytail, dressed, and he stepped out onto the plush carpet in his bare feet, wearing the warm, soft clothes that had been provided for him. Dying didn't seem so bad, once you got past the crowds.

Before going to sleep he decided to take a look around the room. There was a large window on one side, and if he wanted he could open it and step outside for fresh air. The place was like plastic, everything springy and colorful, though it lacked something in the air that made it realistic. Itachi stepped back into his room, his black eyes taking their time to adjust. It seemed that, while his vision had returned, he would be better off avoiding sunlight for a while. When he stepped back inside, he heard a click, and looked up. At the bottom of the door there was a rather thick envelope. He had dropped his binder off on the bed before taking his shower, so he knew it wasn't that. He could hear footsteps disappearing down the hall as he approached the package.

He unraveled the string holding the folder shut and pulled out the stapled pages of what seemed to be instructions.

He read them carefully, and they were very clear about the expectations. He was expected to leave his old clothes in the room, not leave his room for any reason, and that he could otherwise do whatever he wanted within the boundaries of his room for a maximum of three days before he _had_ to check out. And, apparently, if he didn't check out, he would be thoroughly punished for disobeying the rules.

_So,_ he thought with a slight tilt of his head as he read over the facts that breakfast, lunch, and dinner would be delivered to him, _I get to be pampered for a maximum of three days._

But did he want to? A certain part of him was anxious, nervous even, about where he was going to end up. Everyone had their own beliefs and ideals about the afterlife and what it held, and who went where for what reasons. However, he had done a good job spending his life being too busy to bother with beliefs. He'd always assumed he'd be destined for Hell due to the things he'd done, but this part of "Limbo" was a polar opposite to what he had expected. Did that mean that Heaven and Hell were also different from common perception, or did that just mean that Limbo was a sort of "last supper?" A final chance to be comfortable and content before being shipped off to who knew where?

Before he knew it, he had set the alarm on the clock beside his bed to 10 AM, and he was in the process of getting comfortable in bed. He would leave the second day. He wanted to get some sleep and rest his aching body. Sure, his wounds had healed, but his muscles and overall body felt incredibly weak. He definitely needed to sleep.

_The world around him was dark. The nothingness was cold and smelled like smoke, and it felt like he wasn't standing on anything. The sound of laughter reached his ears, a high-pitched giggle that reminded him of nothing less than insanity. He turned slowly, looking around himself to see if he'd be able to find a break in the darkness._

_His body felt weak, and tired, like it had when he had first arrived in Limbo. He could feel something warm and wet wrapping around his wrists, and he jerked back, only to be harshly wrenched to his knees. If he could actually see, then there wouldn't be a problem getting out of the grip. However, coupled with his unexplained weakness, he was feeling incredibly vulnerable._

_The giggling was getting louder, and something sharp pressed against the back of his head. He winced, this time moving forward to escape it, but a pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and held him still._

_The next thing he knew was excruciating amounts of pain. His mouth opened but no sound came out. Blood filled his vision as he seized up, the metal stake that had been hammered into his head spreading a poisonous amount of agony throughout his body. The bindings released him, and he collapsed forward, the chunk of metal dissipating into the air around him. He could still feel it as he reached up with both hands and hovered his palms over the injury, unable to choke out his voice to scream._

He cracked his eyes open, reaching up a tentative hand to touch his pounding head. It was tender to the touch, and burned if he ran his fingers over the area. It hurt so bad that his vision was swimming, but as the minutes went by, it lessened until it was nothing more than a dull ache. Itachi slowly pulled himself up, not wanting to aggravate the headache. After managing to painstakingly get a brush through his hair, Itachi checked the clock again and sighed. It was only 7 AM. Nevertheless, he decided that maybe getting there a little earlier than planned wouldn't hurt.

He went back the way he had come, walking over to the receptionist to return the key she'd given him.

She seemed to understand easily that not only was he tired, he was lost and had no idea where he was supposed to go and what was supposed to be happening. She pointed to the mahogany door that he had come in through, describing the passage that would lead him to the Senders. He nodded, still feeling uneasy about the whole ordeal, and turned away with a wave. As directed, he went out the mahogany door and turned right. He followed the hallways for only a short amount of time before he began to hear the voices of yet another crowd. At the end of the hallway, he turned to the only door on his left and entered the area, called "The Lobby." It was aptly named, the large room with a single line. It wasn't nearly as short as he'd hoped either, but it seemed to be moving along rather quickly. A greeter came up to him, a smile on her face that highlighted her rosy cheeks.

"Hello," She greeted as naturally as if they'd known each other for years, "Please follow me, and we'll give you a quick checkup." He blinked, not exactly sure why he would need to go to the doctor's office when he was _dead_. Nevertheless, he nodded stonily and followed after her. She introduced herself as Rosemary, and told him that he could just call her Rose if he wanted. They went to the back of the room, where there were a series of doors, several of them shut, only a couple open.

The room she took him into had pale blue walls. There was a regular table that he recognized from his younger days during his physicals.

Rosemary looked over his file briefly, checking everything over. She looked him up and down, nodding as she jotted down notes on what seemed to be a sheet for his health.

"Are you experiencing any pain at this time?" She asked, taking her eyes off his torso and looking at him directly, "Anything at all."

He thought for a moment, trying to think of something that hurt other than his head, "I have a pretty bad headache," He replied, "But that's all." With a nod, she wrote it down.

"Were you sick at your time of death?" He wanted to chuckle darkly, but decided against it.

"I was terminally ill." He replied, "There wasn't a name for the illness where I come from."

Rosemary raised her eyebrows, but didn't stop smiling, "Can you tell me your symptoms?" He rattled them off to her easily, the memory of the miserable nights when it was at its worse still clear to him.

She nodded, writing down the symptoms and following them with a dash, and then "Tuberculosis." He had no idea if that was what it was called and that no one had told him, or if the terminology was better known in the afterlife. It seemed to him like it'd be proper for the afterlife to have more progress than the living world.

"Do you know how you died?" She asked, the question seeming strange despite the fact that he knew he was dead. It just sounded odd when someone actually called him dead, and he could hear them saying it.

"I was in a fight," he replied, "I can't say for sure, but if I had to wager a guess I would say internal injury." He distinctly recalled an intense agony in his chest and abdomen as he had collapsed before Sasuke. The pain had been so great that he had actually fainted shortly before meeting the white light.

She nodded, jotting down more notes, "Okay, I have to look you over now and make sure that all of your wounds are healed before I can let you go to the afterlife." She said calmly. He watched Rosemary as she grabbed a pair of latex gloves and pulled them onto her hands, opening a drawer and getting a stethoscope.

"Could you unbutton your shirt and lay down?" She requested. He obeyed, unbuttoning the blue shirt and leaned back until he was touching the cool sheets.

He held still as she tapped his chest with her knuckles, watching his face as she did so. He didn't wince at all, and she moved lower so that she was tapping his abdomen. Still no reaction, so she jotted more notes down in his file and took her stethoscope off her neck.

She held it over his heart for a moment, and then moved to his abdomen. She asked him to lift himself off the bed using only his abs, and he did. She nodded, wrote something else down, and checked his reflexes. He seemed to be well enough to her, at least.

"Okay, let me have a look at your head." She finally said, helping him to sit up. He indicated the tender spot, and explained the sharp pain when he rubbed it. She was gentle as could be as she parted his hair, shining a bright light on the spot and taking a peek.

"Well," She said, "there doesn't seem to be any actual injury." She pressed on it just a little to feel for any unevenness in his skull. Itachi drew in a sharp breath, clenching his teeth until his jaw hurt. She pulled her fingers away, and he relaxed visibly. She noted it down.

"Tell your Caretaker about it when you meet them, okay? Incase you get into Hell; they'll need to know that it matters especially that they don't hit your head until it heals. It's not cracked or even bruised, but if it's that tender then it could be something else." Itachi nodded, blinking the dots in his vision away.

Rosemary smiled sympathetically, "I apologize if I hurt you…" He shook his head, reaching up his hands to button his shirt back up.

"Don't worry about it."

She led him out of the room, signed her name on his health sheet, gave him back his binder, and abandoned him in the line. It was truly tragic. His head was pounding a lot worse than it had been originally, but he was doing a rather good job ignoring it. Itachi's mind wandered to Sasuke. He wondered if he was okay. He wondered if Madara had gotten to him after all. He wondered how Juritsu and Naruto were doing. He wondered how Kisame was doing. He wondered how Konoha was getting alone after the entire Akatsuki bandwagon had gone after them. He hoped that everyone was okay. It wasn't like there was much that he could do to help anyone anymore.

The line, he realized, was going a lot slower than he had initially thought. Each person was taking about five minutes to get checked out, and the ones being sent to hell were taking longer because they were throwing fits about having to be tormented for the rest of eternity. They were dragged down by the apparent "Caretakers", a different one for each person. He glanced at the clock, slightly surprised to see that it was apparently a month clock, judging by the sign beneath it; "MONTHS." It was moving at the speed of a regular clock though, which led him to believe that time moved plenty faster in the afterlife compared to the living world.

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><p><strong>AN**

**Ninety-percent of the characters that you meet in this story don't fucking matter. They're just stage props.**


	2. He Waits

EVERY MINUTE IS A DAY.

PLEASE THINK OF OTHERS AND ACCEPT YOUR FATE.

THANK YOU.

He had been staring at the sign for nearly a full month. Somehow, he didn't really feel any older after it had passed. If he assumed that the minutes were equivalent to the months, he could safely assume that, since the hour hand was on the 9, it was likely September in the living world. He had missed his birthday, and Sasuke's.

Now that he thought about it, he was going to miss everyone's birthdays. A depressing thought, indeed. Faintly, he tried to recall if Kisame had ever given him a more precise date than "some time in April." He couldn't remember, but he was pretty sure that the shark-man had neglected to be specific about any of his personal details, besides his apparent fish allergy.

"Hey!" Someone practically yelled from behind him, almost but not making him jump. Thinking that they probably weren't talking to him, he ignored the somehow familiar voice.

"Aren't you Sasuke's brother?" There was a long, uncomfortable pause as Itachi stonily turned to face the blonde behind him. Naruto stood there, looking slightly clueless and only a little bit adorable. Kakashi was behind him, and Itachi could assume that the pink-haired one… Sakura was probably nearby too. He could never remember her name, probably because Sasuke used to avoid talking about the stalker girls in his classes.

Itachi stared at him blankly, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. He'd only been in Limbo for the equivalent of a few months in the living world. Why were Naruto and Kakashi there? And when he looked past them, he recognized a few other faces of disgruntled Konoha residents. His heart plummeted into his stomach, which sunk even farther. He was sure that his face had gone white, judging from the expression on Naruto's face.

"His name is Itachi." Kakashi muttered to clarify. Naruto nodded agreeably. He could apparently see that Itachi was trying to get his voice to come out without sounding like a squeak.

"What… are you doing here?" He managed to force out. "What are all of you doing here?" Kakashi and Naruto exchanged a brief glance, each not seeming to want to answer him.

Finally, Naruto turned to him, looking as if he wanted to avert his gaze. "Sasuke… took out Konoha. He was trying to kill the Elders and we were trying to stop him."

He paled at this, though a small part of him had the feeling it would come down to that. "Do you know... why?" he asked.

Naruto only shrugged halfheartedly, "He just told me it was because the Elders destroyed his clan."

Itachi broke eye contact at Naruto, looking at the ground in front of him and running a slightly shaky hand through his long hair. He had lived his whole life determined to keep the truth hidden, to allow Sasuke to continue to focus all of his hatred on him. But... what could it have...

"Madara," he muttered under his breath, a wave of anger falling over him. He had done what he could to protect Sasuke; his final act was to place that protective jutsu on him. But, clearly, it wasn't enough. Madara didn't need to show his face to tell Sasuke just enough of the truth to send him on a murderous rampage.

It was kind of ironic. He failed not only his personal mission to protect his little brother; he also failed his original mission to protect Konoha from the likes of the Uchiha clan.

Naruto was watching him silently, waiting for something like a reply. Itachi looked the opposite direction, wanting to break eye contact, even if it was just for a moment. He took a deep breath as he saw that there was no one in front of him. All four of the booths for the Senders were full, but he could imagine that they wouldn't be for very long.

"What about Juritsu?" He suddenly said, turning back to the blonde behind him. Naruto's eyes fell, and Itachi's heart plummeted into the tile floor.

"I don't know…"

"Who's next?" He turned around to face the empty booth to his left, and approached the young, clueless looking brunette behind the desk. She had a dark bruise on her temple, but it was fading fast. Itachi glanced over, and saw that Naruto was walking towards another Sender, an older, sweet looking man.

"Your name?" the girl asked calmly. According to her name tag, her name was Heian.

"Uchiha Itachi," he replied. She nodded absentmindedly, typing in his name on her keyboard. Her lips parted slightly as she tilted her head, reading through the files on the computer.

"May I see your Folder?" He handed it to her wordlessly, and she seemed to be comparing the notes from the folder to the glowing object that she was staring at. She went over the medical information, signing her name at the bottom of it as Rosemary had done.

There was a section that he hadn't seen before; it looked like a documentation of his life. She skimmed it, or maybe even read it that fast. It seemed quite long, despite the fact that he had only lived for a short twenty… twenty-five years? Had it really been that long? It didn't feel like it at all.

But he remembered that Sasuke had his twentieth birthday recently, so Itachi was twenty-five. The age gap was easy for him to forget. Sasuke wasn't very mature, but he looked older than he was. Heian was still reading through his file, and she seemed to have a very concentrated look on her face.

She finally looked up, her blue eyes meeting his for a long, tiresome moment. He broke the contact briefly; at the bottom of his file, it said "Suffering" in a bold, bright red stamp. That probably meant he was going to Hell.

"Listen," Rosemary finally said, leaning close to speak personally with him. "This says that you are going to Hell, and I can't change that, but..." She paused, pulling out a black marker and changing the name under "Caretaker" to something he couldn't read very well.

"A person's Caretaker is really who makes Hell for them. They create a Schedule for you, and they take care of you in general and make sure that you are okay at all times. The thing is," She beckoned him closer, "I shouldn't tell you this, but some of the Caretakers are really cruel. There's one, Matthew, who you were initially assigned to; he likes to toy with people's heads. He's a jerk, and I personally don't like him."

Itachi blinked, wondering where she was going with all of this. "I reassigned you. That's the only thing I'm permitted to do based on my assessment of your life. You seem like an okay guy to me." She chuckled lightly, "I mean, I know now you've done some nasty things, but that doesn't change your overall personality. I actually kinda like you; your polite, and most people who be flipping out when they heard they were going to Hell."

He nodded slowly in reply, waiting for her to continue and deciding that she talked a lot, "I've assigned you to a girl name Polly Burinchet. She isn't perfect, but she's a friend of mine. I'll give her good word about you, and hopefully she'll take it to heart. She's one of the nicest Caretakers, so I think you two will get along okay." Rosemary handed him back his file and began to speak at a normal tone, winking at him with a smile, "Just go through that door, and line up with everyone else. It looks like a prison or something, but it's just the easiest way to get everyone to their Caretakers."

Itachi nodded, allowing a gentle smile to grace his features, "Thank you," He bid her farewell and headed for the door. He glanced over his shoulder; Naruto was leaving on the other side of the room. The door he was heading through was painted white, and it looked awful against the color combination of the overall room.

The door he was going through was simply a dark, treated wood that shined with polish. The handle was silver, the opposite of the golden one that obviously led to Heaven. It suddenly occurred to Itachi that all the doors he was going through today were dark wood.

He glanced at the line and spotted Sakura, looking like she had been crying. Her eyes were puffy and red, and he could see that she looked like she wanted to break down again. However, he could tell that it had nothing to do with sadness; she was furious, so angry that all she could do was cry. Her lips were moving, and he could make out the form of Sasuke's name more than once. She was probably cursing him.

But he didn't see Juritsu. He sighed heavily, pushing open the door and entering another hallway. He could hear voices, and he could see one open door. He approached it calmly; the sound of enraged shrieking and people crying was making him sick to his stomach. Was it really that bad in there?

It wasn't. Everyone was just upset that they were going to Hell. Several women were bawling miserably, one of them being dragged to her feet and led away by a gentle looking Caretaker. A few men were fuming, one of them yelling and cursing at the sinister looking young boy he was being dragged by. Itachi briefly wondered if that was Matthew.

He walked in, wondering if he looked oddly calm compared to the rest of the people in the room. He had been expecting Hell from the beginning, so it wasn't like he was surprised. He waited a few seconds, wondering if he was going to receive any particular directions. When he didn't, Itachi simply slinked over to the long wall that everyone was leaning against.

The woman speaking to them was loud, and she spoke with an accent he didn't recognize. She finished the list she was reading and looked up, a dark smile on her face.

"For those of you who missed the instruction!" She barked, "I am going to call the names of Caretakers! Open your Folder to the last page. At the bottom of this sheet there will be three signatures; one of them is from the initial registration, one is from a Nurse, and one is from a Sender! Underneath the Sender's signature, which will be the one of the far right, there is the name of your Caretaker! Memorize that! When I call out the name of your Caretaker, step forward and follow them!"

Itachi sighed again; he was suddenly extremely tired. His head was starting to pound, the noise in the room getting louder again. There was a loud crack, and he wince at the sound as he looked up. The drill sergeant of a woman had cracked a whip, her fierce red eyes glowing with irritation.

"SILENCE!" She roared over the din, "ALL OF YOU!"

The room fell deadly silent, "I have the absolute right to send anyone I don't like to our deepest pit! I suggest all of you quite your bitching and _pay attention_!"

She was threatening, that was for sure.

Without even a hair of space between her anger and her calm, the woman started calling out the names of Caretakers. Judging from the first name – Xavier Aaline, she was starting with last names, so his wait shouldn't be too long.

The Caretakers were definitely distinguishable from the regular people. They tended to have wild-looking hair and oddly colored eyes. One boy he saw had hot pink eyes, and another had a bright yellow. They varied in ages, the youngest Itachi saw being what looked like a thirteen year old and the oldest being likely around eighty, if not ninety.

All of the people were wearing the same clothes, men in dark blue button-ups, and women in dark red button-ups, and everyone was wearing an almost identical pair of black slacks. Itachi felt like a clone.

"Angela Baudin!" They were definitely getting there, slowly but surely. The Caretakers would stand next to the drill sergeant woman, scanning the crowd with anything from a scowl to an excited grin. They all had pointed ears, like the elves that Itachi had heard of in stories. Of course, Itachi could safely assume that they weren't elves. It was probably a trait amongst Demons.

"Polly Burinchet!" She was an interesting looking girl, as Itachi stepped forward to greet her.

"Uchiha Itachi?" She asked, extending a hand to receive his Folder. He handed it to her, nodding at the same time.

"Yes, ma'am." He replied politely. He had no idea how he was supposed to address his Caretaker, so he was going to assume the worst and be overly polite until further notice. She gave him a strange look, but it didn't last long as her eyes drifted over his file.

"You have a head injury?" She asked, looking at him in confusion, "All your injuries should be healed, Itachi."

Itachi blinked, shaking his head slowly, "I didn't have a head injury when I died." He replied, "I must've not mentioned it to her..." Polly blinked, beckoning him to follow her as they approached a set of double doors.

"When we get into the carriage you can tell me what happened, because Residents aren't supposed to be able to have injuries. You should've been fully healed in the hotel." Polly said with a looked oddly discontented with the news of his apparent injury. They passed through the double doors as a carriage pulled up. A pair of white stags was pulling it along, and the driver was staring down at them with a strange look in his eyes.

"Hey Devlin," Polly greeted, "Swell day, huh?"

"I hate Mondays. Is it me or does everyone die on a Monday?" He grumbled, "I'd like to get off this stupid cart eventually!"

Itachi didn't say anything, deciding it would be best to stay quiet. He stepped ahead of Polly and pulled the carriage door open, stepping aside to let her go first. She froze, eyes slightly wide in what looked like the most amount of shock he'd ever seen in a person's expression.

"After you," He offered almost nervously, wondering if he had done something wrong. After a second of silence, Polly smiled, chuckling lightly as she climbed into the wagon first.

"It's just that…" She said as Itachi was settling down across from her, "No one's ever been that polite to me."

Itachi blinked, looking perturbed, "You're a lady," He spoke with a hint of disbelief in his tone, "Why wouldn't anyone hold the door?"

Polly shrugged half-heartedly, "Most people who get assigned to Hell are so disgruntled with the placement that they forget their manners. I've only ever known like, two people besides you that have called me a lady. But you're the first to hold the door and actually treat me like one."

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><p><strong>AN**

**Don't try to do the math to understand how a regular clock could count in months. All I could possibly tell you is that it probably counts the minutes as twenty-four seconds instead of sixty seconds. I have no fucking clue.  
><strong>

**For those of you who are probably wondering what's wrong with Itachi's cranium, please refer to the previous chapter and reread his dream sequence. If it wasn't for the fact that I don't know when exactly I'm going to get the motivation to also upload _The Fated_, I wouldn't tell you this. In that dream, a metal stake was hammered into Itachi's head. Basically, that's the moment in which he is cursed with Stakes. Stakes is a high-level curse, meaning it takes a lot of energy and a lot of skill.**

"Whoever cursed him had intent to kill." - Raphael, The Fated - Chapter Three


	3. He Tells the Truth

The ride wasn't exactly short, at least half an hour, but Itachi didn't mind. Polly was good-natured and she was great company, telling him stories about the politesse of past Residents. She had apparently forgotten about his invisible head injury, but since it wasn't causing Itachi any trouble more than discomfort (which he was actually used to at that point), he decided to ignore it and forget about it altogether.

When he felt the carriage roll to a final stop, Itachi glanced out the tiny window on the door. The area they had arrived in looked remarkably similar to a regular village, with the exception that everyone he saw that wasn't a Caretaker had black, smoky looking cuffs around their wrists as they were led to their destination.

And there was a startling familiarity with everyone he saw. His face, he was sure, drained of color as he realized that this place was swarming with Uchihas and no one else. He recognized several faces, and resisted the urge to duck his head down as he stepped out of the carriage and extended a hand to help Polly down. He was seriously hoping that no one cared about or noticed him. He knew the thought of this was unrealistic and more like a fantasy than anything else, but he could dream.

Polly seemed to be aware of his anxieties, but she didn't seem to be worried about reassuring him. So clearly, she was certain that he had nothing to worry about, and that he would learn that soon enough.

The conclusion he came to based on Polly's attitude was reassuring all by itself. He walked beside her as she started down the cobblestone sidewalk. He felt several pairs of eyes staring at him as he watched the ground in front of his feet. Polly walked with a cold demeanor; she was probably doing something along the lines of warning people away.

Something told him that she probably knew something of his reputation amongst his family.

"Itachi?" He paused in his steps, rather pointedly ignoring Polly's hushed urge to keep walking. He knew that voice a little too well, considering that he hadn't seen his best friend since he'd been thirteen. He turned slowly to face the incoming man, a muscle twitching under his eye as his head started to pound again.

Shisui stopped a foot or two away, ignoring his Caretaker, who seemed to be less interested in commanding his Resident's attention and more interested in seeing a fight.

"So, now that we're both dead and all," Shisui's voice was low, nearly a growl. Itachi wondered if he was as angry as he sounded, because his face wasn't holding that much emotion.

"Why _did_ you kill everyone, except Sasuke?"

Itachi stared at him evenly, wondering if he looked quite as intimidating as he wanted to. Shisui didn't seem to mind the stare-down, so he probably wasn't doing it right. He considered, for just a moment, telling him the same words that he had told Sasuke all those years ago. Shisui wouldn't believe that, though. Should he tell him the truth? Would it be worth it? He wasn't entirely sure. He could tell him the truth and ask Shisui politely to keep it from the rest of their family, but could he trust his ex-friend to keep his mouth shut?

It wasn't like Shisui couldn't keep a secret; Itachi just wasn't sure if he _would_.

_Truth or lie, Itachi._

"Well?"

_It wouldn't make a difference either way,_ a malicious voice that he didn't recognize spoke up from the back of his head, just barely in his hearing, _Shisui will be angry with the truth, and he'll just equally angry with a lie._

_Truth or lie?_

_Tell him a lie…_ It was practically goading him. Itachi sighed, allowing the stony features to relax in some kind of resigned gaze. Shisui seemed startled by the change; perhaps he had been expecting Itachi to kill him again.

Polly was looking at him – something in her eyes was telling him _don't do it!_

"I didn't want to," Itachi finally replied, "Our clan was planning a coup d'état; the Elders asked me to wipe out our clan to prevent war… I couldn't bring myself to kill Sasuke, and it took a lot of doing to keep Danzo and Madara from doing it for me."

Shisui didn't believe him. He didn't believe him. He _didn't believe him_. Itachi could see in his coal black eyes. He watched Shisui's expression shift into some kind of a smile, before he laughed. _Laughed._

"You really are something, you know that?" He spat venomously.

"Even if I was lying," Itachi couldn't keep the hostility out of his voice. He hadn't thought that this kind of frustration would even get to him again. Shisui had a knack for getting him worked up, "You have to promise me that you'll never repeat what I've told you to anyone. I swore myself to secrecy, lived in my own personal Hell for more than a decade, and now my little brother's gone and slaughtered everyone in Konoha." He paused, a pit of nausea working its way into his stomach. His head was pounding and the pain was making his vision swim.

"I've done enough for my family, and I've done too much for my home. Leave me be." His voice was barely about a whisper, and it held a tone of defeat that he had never heard before. Polly touched his shoulder, slowly turning him away from his agape cousin. There were several other members of the Uchiha clan staring, and his head felt like it was going to split like a watermelon.

"I promise," Shisui's voice found its way to him, and he kept walking. Didn't look back. He couldn't look back. Not now, not ever.

The reality of what Sasuke had done hit him like a brick wall. He had failed, as both a shinobi of Konohagakure, and as an older brother.

He had failed. _Failed_. Despite so many lessons and so many hours of training, he had failed to be the kind of perfection that his family and village had wanted, that Sasuke had envied, and that he himself had hated.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

**;-; WELL FUCK HIM AT LEAST I LOVE YOU ITACHI**

**Ooo-wee-ooo. Who could the mystery voice in Itachi's head be? Probably just a hallucination. Too much Sharingan makes you Schizophrenic, ya know? **

**And before someone yells at me for saying that, my older brother has Paranoid Schizophrenia and Asperger's. You're comments fall upon ears that give less of a fuck than honey badger.**

**Also, this chapter is very, very short. In reality, these first three chapters are actually one big-ass chapter, but just to add to your reading experience, I split it up into three chapters. Also, this way it makes you feel like you haven't been japped out of a good story because of my shitty update schedule. HAHAHA. I'M TRY I REALLY AM BUT CONSIDERING THE BULLSHIT I'VE BEEN GOING THROUGH YOU CANNOT BLAME ME!  
><strong>


	4. He Recalls

The first day wasn't at all bad, but that was probably because Polly hadn't forced him to do anything the first day. His head trauma had never come back into the conversation, and the headaches had subsided so much that Itachi had completely forgotten about the invisible injury altogether.

The first day was mostly paperwork, which Polly did in Itachi's room. The stack was at least half an inch thick, but the blonde wrote relatively fast and she didn't really seem to be in a hurry anyway. She would clarify things with him at times, asking him for details that weren't included in the Lifetime Summary.

At the moment, he was being forced to recount the tale of the first time he'd seen Sasuke since the massacre. He was surprised at how hard it was to get himself to pull the memories to surface; normally, whenever he was asked to recount anything, whether it be the most meager details or a full event, he could pull them up in a second or less. However, for some reason, he was having trouble keeping himself concentrated enough to remember any of the things that he was being asked to remember.

"It only says that you broke his wrist," Polly said slowly, glancing at him with her purple eyes, "But only after he attempted to kill you with his 'Chidori.' Ring any bells?"

He thought about that for a long, long moment before the image appeared in his head. Itachi nodded slowly, "Yea… The force of the attack blew a hole in the wall next to us. I remember now."

Polly nodded, searching for the question she had asked him a few seconds ago, "Why did you attack your little brother?"

Itachi looked up at her, feeling uneasiness settling into his stomach, "I… had to." He trailed off into thought, trying to come up with a manner of explaining this to her. She already knew about his mission to defend Konoha, and to have Sasuke kill him. Didn't that tell her enough about his overall motives involving Sasuke?

She looked at him, "I can't exactly write "because he had to" on this. If it was that easy, we'd have been done hours ago."

Itachi chewed on the inside of his lower lip, still thinking of a way to explain it so that it would make sense.

_Why did you attack your little brother?_

_Because… because…_

He was having trouble recalling the reason as he repeated the word "because" in his head a hundred times.

"If I hadn't," He finally began to speak, watching as Polly's hand hovered over the paper, "Kisame would've killed him. Sasuke wouldn't have stopped attacking unless I incapacitated him, and if I let him defeat me, Kisame would've killed him without hesitation and long before I was killed."

He paused, hesitating slightly before he continued, "Furthermore, Madara would've…"

Would've. Madara _did_.

"And… if Kisame had killed Sasuke, Naruto would've exploded, and then there would've been a full-out war right then and there. It was a prevent-all action, I suppose."

His palms were sweaty, and his fingers were pinching the sheets beneath his hand tightly. Polly had finished writing seconds after he had finished talking. She looked over at him, and he wondered what she saw in his eyes that made her avert her gaze so suddenly.

He lowered his gaze to the floor as Polly started reading again.

"Kind, thoughtful…" Polly was muttering to herself as she wrote. He looked up again, "Reducing level to three…" She paused in her writing, "Two? Three…?"

Itachi watched her pen instead; somewhat interested in the way her thumb trembled when she was hovering over the paper. He began to wonder what a "level" was.

"Two." She said decisively, writing it down on the sheet. Her hand moved in an erratic pattern momentarily before coming off the paper altogether. He could tell that she had just signed her name. Polly glanced over at him, smiling slightly as she stood up and stretched.

"I'm finding it difficult to believe they had you at a level 5. I mean, seriously, you'd think that Uchiha Itachi was a serial killer or something."

Itachi chuckled at that, "Technically, I am a serial killer."

Polly playfully stuck her tongue, "Well, you're a pretty chill guy for a serial killer." She started for the door, "I have to deliver these to the King. Stay here and try to sleep. I'll be back later."

She didn't mention at all what she had planned for tomorrow. Itachi listened to the click of the door as it latched in place, but didn't hear the sound of a lock. He knew he probably wasn't supposed to leave his room, so he obeyed Polly's command and lay down.

He shifted onto his back and closed his eyes, trying to find the calm in his mind to sleep. The darkness sifted into his eyelids, and it wasn't long before he had fallen asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

**Short chapter is very short.  
><strong>

**On the bright side, I updated. I finished writing it a while ago, and I'm going to post the chapters today because I'm a lame ass who didn't do it before. Aren't you so happy?  
><strong>


	5. He Defends

Everything in Hell was based on hours, not days or weeks, or even months. Itachi had grown accustomed to it rather easily, learning to read the clocks that were placed in advantageous points throughout the underworld.

The headaches hadn't gone away, but they had yet to get to the point where they were really bothering Itachi, so he continued to not mention them to Polly. He knew he ought to, but he didn't really mind if it was just a little bit of stress. He deserved much more, after all.

His Suffering might've been giving him a headache as well. It was actually highly likely, now that he thought about it. Itachi walked beside Polly silently, his eyes on the ground as he studied it thoroughly. His Caretaker paused in her steps, and Itachi stopped beside her. He followed her gaze to the steadily blackening sky. It looked almost like a storm rolling in, but at the same time like something completely different. Polly tapped something in her left ear, listening carefully.

She turned to Itachi, "There's been a breach," She explained calmly, "All Residents are to return to their rooms, so get going. You know where it is by now."

Itachi nodded solemnly, wondering what she meant by "breach." Nevertheless, he turned away from Polly and started walking back towards his room.

"This is Polly Burinchet, responding to an emergency summon to the Main Barracks. What's the situation?"

He glanced over his shoulder in time to see her jumping into the air and flying off, a pair of transparent blue wings coming out of her back like wisps of smoke. He could hear people chattering around him as their Caretakers followed suit, abandoning their Residents on the spot to deal with security. Itachi only had a guess of what had happened, based partially on Polly's words, and partially on the whispers and mutters about demons by other Residents.

It only took him a few minutes to reach his room from where Polly had left him, and he did a wondrous job keeping his head bowed and avoiding eye contact with everyone around him. By the time he had gotten to the door of his room, the sound of distant fighting had become incredibly loud with explosions. The sky was jet black, much unlike its usual midnight blue. A surprising amount of the Uchiha Residents around him weren't actually going into their rooms like they'd been told. At least, Itachi was assuming that they had been told to return to their rooms. Polly might've been lying as a way to keep Itachi from getting into a spat with one of his many relatives.

His hand fell on the doorknob, but he didn't turn it. It seemed warm, like there was something hot on the other side of the door. His brow furrowed, and for a moment he wondered if maybe someone had decided to put a heater in his room. That probably wasn't the case, and he pulled his hand away from the knob quickly. There was someone behind the door. He took a step back, his chest suddenly feeling tight. Polly had told him before that he was forbidden to use his chakras, and that even if he tried, he wouldn't be able to. He wouldn't be able to defend himself if there _was_ someone waiting for him.

He could call her, but then again he could just be insane and there could be no one in there. He'd feel rather idiotic if he called Polly back from the emergency – whatever it entitled – because there was a mouse under his bed, or something.

Itachi was chewing his tongue a little harder than necessary when he heard Shisui call him. He should've known that his cousin would come after him the instant there was no one around to stand between them. He looked up wearily, wishing that his neighbors would find something better to do than pick on him.

Behind Shisui was a rather horribly familiar face. Fugaku didn't look very pleased to see his son, but Itachi was less concerned about his father's disappointment than he was about the potential danger they all might face if there _was_ someone behind the door and he _wasn't_ just losing his mind. That was around the time when he saw his mother, Mikoto, come into view from behind Fugaku and Shisui. Wow, this was going to be a big ol' family reunion, wasn't it?

Shisui stopped about five feet away, and Itachi was thankful for that. He still wasn't sure about whether there was a significant source of danger lurking in his room or not. His head was pounding again, and his eyes were starting to burn. He came to the conclusion that there probably was something behind that door.

Shisui opened his mouth, but Itachi held up a hand to silence him, "I've spent the time it took for you to get over here running through multiple outcomes of this encounter," he said solemnly, turning away from them and back towards his door. He wondered if his parents and cousin could tell that something was bothering him as he slid a foot forward silently and touched the doorknob again.

"I don't care for any of my predicted outcomes," he continued, "So I'm going to ignore you."

It wasn't his father's incoming outburst that he was sensing, or his mother's mortification at his outright disrespect. Hell, it wasn't even the incoming onslaught of enraged curses from Shisui. A jet black shadow was leaking out from under the door, and a surge of chakra rushed to Itachi's heels as he jumped backwards, coming to a landing across the way.

"Move!" Itachi barked, startling all three of them and probably several others surrounding him. At that very instant, an explosion came from within the suspected room, launching the door past Itachi and into a wall behind him. He didn't really notice when he'd activated his Sharingan until he suddenly became aware of how much more he could _see_. It had been a long time since Itachi had been able to see with both properly functioning eyes and a properly functioning Sharingan. The world was so much clearer, and every detail came to him easily.

He had missed his chakra. He didn't know why it had so suddenly decided to return to him, or why it had decided to return_ now_, when he'd been told previously that it was _impossible_ for this kind of thing to happen. Either way, Itachi wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The ash and smoke cleared, revealing a demoness that he definitely didn't recognize. She had the same pointed ears, the same wild hair and brilliant eyes as the other Caretakers that Itachi had encountered, but she was obviously _not_ a Caretaker. He could tell just by the chilling atmosphere that she gave off with the raw power he _knew_ lay just beneath the surface. She was after him, obviously, and unless she was fantastic at bluffing, she was almost definitely stronger than him. He was surrounded by his dead family, and none of them seemed to have the common sense to run away. No, instead they were backing off a few feet at a time, eyes wide and gawking mainly at Itachi himself, rather than the demon clutching in one hand a heavy, two-handed sword.

He shouldn't have been so surprised; he had always been the type of being that people gawked at, even if he didn't like it. The only issue with this was that he didn't know what would happen if a dead person got killed. Would they disappear? Or would they just be reset to Limbo? He couldn't risk it. Even though he was the one who'd killed them all, he would protect them now. This woman was after him, so he would indulge her until Polly showed up.

The demoness took a few more steps forward, hopping off the pile of rubble that she had come from behind. Itachi had never been looked upon with such condescending eyes. He was slightly taken aback by it, although nothing resembling such emotion was anywhere on his face.

"Who are you?" He ground out, gritting his teeth as his head began to pound. Really, such bad, _bad_ timing.

"Matilda Schlovanski," she replied, her gaze steely and her voice just as cold, "I'm here to kill you before you become a problem, Uchiha Itachi."

Itachi raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Was I supposed to become a problem?"

Matilda scoffed, "No," she reached over with her free hand and grabbed the hilt of her sword, shifting into a fighting stance, "You weren't."

_Polly,_ he tried calling her, something he had never done before. Supposedly, all he had to do was think her name really hard and she'd hear him. He had been expecting her to show up right away, but there was no sign of his caretaker. And when Matilda suddenly dashed forward with a grin on her face, Itachi knew that something was wrong. Polly had said that their contract simply meant that she would have to respond to his call within seconds after hearing it. He called again and again while spinning around the swinging blade. No response.

She couldn't hear him, it seemed. _Damn it_, he cursed, wishing that he had a weapon; anything sharp that he could use to defend himself. If he was able to drag this fight out long enough, then the attack on the barracks would end and the caretakers would return without needing to be called.

His back hit one of the walls on the side of the large hall that went between the rooms, and he barely had a split second to twist out of the way of another thrust of Matilda's sword. His relatives were still backing up, giving him and his enemy space to fight. But they didn't want to run; it had been too long since any of them had seen a fight. They were probably craving bloodshed by now.

Matilda wasn't as fast as him; the sword was probably slowing her down. She had plenty of brute strength, but if he could avoid her attacks then he had nothing to worry about. He wasn't sure if he wanted to utilize his Mangekyou Sharingan, though… hell, he wasn't even sure if he _could_ use it.

"You're pretty fast, brat," Matilda remarked, "And you're chakras aren't locked. Even if I don't kill you now, they'll put you to death for that."

Itachi scowled; so he was doomed either way. Well, that was a good thing to know, at the very least. Deciding it would be best not to respond to any form of taunting, Itachi kept his mouth shut. He couldn't risk letting his guard down in a moment of anger.

"If it makes you feel any better," the demoness suddenly spoke again, her smile growing, "You won't be alone too much longer; we'll be sending Sasuke down here soon enough. He just needs to finish wiping out the human race first."

_No._

He felt his Mangekyou activate before he really registered what she'd just said to him, and he barely had an instant to press a hand over his right eye to keep his Amaterasu from activating. His heart was in his throat and the adrenaline burst startled him. _Danger. He's in danger. Protect him. He's in danger. Protect him. Kill her. Kill her. Kill her._

He ducked under her swinging blade and moved his hand away from his face. His eyes focused on her abdomen, and a second later the black flames engulfed her. She had known that his body would react to what she said the way it did, but she must not have expected him to be able to control himself so well. Clearly, he was being underestimated. He leapt back, barely able to catch his breath. His eyes were burning, but the pain was already starting to fade away, his vision intact. It seemed that the high-speed healing that he had been granted in death hadn't been tampered with.

_What was that?_ He couldn't help but wonder; sure, Sasuke was precious to him… but he had never had such an uncontrollable reaction to a threat like that before. He'd loathed Tobi for the duration of his stay in Akatsuki, entirely because the masked man had always held Sasuke's life over his head, but this was different. He had barely been able to stop his Amaterasu from scorching the entire complex. Matilda was still standing, her body heavily burned and the flames already extinguishing. It seemed that his eye techniques would only get him so far.

And that technique had drained a considerably larger amount of chakra than normal. He needed to make sure that didn't happen again. She was already rushing towards him again, eyes flashing with anger. The sword was swinging again, but it was smaller now, and she was moving faster as a result. Inwardly cursing, he spun around her attacks, ignoring the painful stinging and burning as her blade split his skin. The wounds weren't so bad that he needed to worry about them, but they weren't healing.

So, his Mangekyou Sharingan wouldn't blind him anymore, but it wasn't because of any healing. It was probably related to him not having a physical body. No matter, it simply meant that he had a little more at his disposal.

A dark, smoky shadow surrounded him as he activated Susano'o. His head was throbbing, the pain was nearly debilitating. Matilda was already trying to break through his ultimate defense, but to no avail. Susano'o wasn't something she could combat. With her in such close quarters, he would be able to fend her off with it.

Susano'o was rather slow in movement due to its size. But it would be fine to bide his time with.

"This must be the blessing from Susano'o," Matilda leapt back several feet, regarding his defense with a scowl, "I've never seen it before, so this is a real _honor_."

Itachi's eyes narrowed; the condescending glower that she had been giving him earlier was back. What did she mean by blessing? Susano'o was simply something that he had inherited. He hadn't been blessed by anyone. His very existence was a curse. He would have to ask Polly about it later. Maybe it had something to do with the reason behind every single Uchiha in the history of man being condemned to Hell.

There was a brilliant flash of light that scorched across the sky, seemingly cutting a hole in the blackness. Not a second later, a blast of thunder sounded. Matilda froze, her eyes drifting towards the sky in confusion. Itachi's blood froze; something… some_one_ was coming, and they weren't hiding their power. No, he had never felt such a strong presence before. His heart crawled into his throat and he took a small step back, Susano'o curling in around him.

"There's been a change of plans," another woman appeared with another bright flash of light. Her eyes were a dusty blue and held nothing but contempt for the situation, "She wants him alive."

Matilda looked at her apparent partner incredulously, "Alive? What for?"

"For the game," was the simple reply, "You have served your purpose, Matilda Schlovanski." The newcomer turned to face the demoness. Matilda's eyes widened, but before she could even think to flee, her entire body burst into flames, a piercing shriek ringing through the complex. Itachi swallowed hard; this wasn't good. Matilda and this newcomer… they were nowhere close to being on the same level. If he didn't stand a chance before, he might as well just write his will now.

His mouth was dry as he slowly asked, "And who are you?"

"Thanatos," she replied icily, "God of Death."

He froze; a _God_? How was he supposed to fend off a _God_?

_Polly Burinchet… Polly! Polly! Can you hear me!? Polly!?_

There was no reply. He'd been calling her for a good ten minutes now, to no avail. She should've been back to respond to his calling by now. Something had to be blocking their connection. It was the only thing he could think off. Was it Thanatos? Or was it someone even stronger? What was he supposed to do?

He heard a soft laugh in the back of his head, a foreign voice. The same one that had nearly instigated a fight between him and Shisui. His head was pounding worse now, a stabbing pain piercing through the back of his head – the same agony he had experienced in the Hotel prior to arriving in Hell. Susano'o flickered, but didn't disappear, and not a moment later the pain vanished. Thanatos reached out to her left and pulled a falcata out of mid-air, allowing her hand to fall back to her side once she had gripped the hilt tightly. Her eyes narrowed, and she slid her foot forward. Susano'o shifted, raising his shield higher in defense. Itachi had no idea how strong this woman… no, this _God_ was. If what Matilda said was true and Susano'o was a blessing from another God, then he _might_ stand a chance with the ultimate defense.

But Susano'o was draining his chakras steadily. When it was still and immobile, he could hold it for longer, but if Thanatos was able to bypass the defense and force Itachi into the offense… well, his chakras wouldn't last long enough for him to lay any actual blows; that was for sure.

Around him, he could see familiar faces of the Uchiha clan. Shisui, eyes wide as he stared at the unraveling scene beside Fugaku and Mikoto, both quietly wondering if this was really the man who had ruthlessly killed them. Was this really the son they had almost feared? Itachi seemed almost like he was _defending_ them.

Not too far from those particular three was Ayumi, the girl he would probably have spent the rest of his life anchored to if he hadn't been forced to kill her. His grandparents, their aged bodies retaining the strength of their youth so they could better endure eternity of unjust torment. His Sharingan finally spotted the all-too familiar face of the man behind the Uchiha's disparity in Konoha; Uchiha Madara. This wasn't the same man who ran Akatsuki behind an orange mask. It wasn't the same man who had held Sasuke's life over Itachi's head for nearly a decade to keep him in line.

No, this was just the man who'd gotten the clan into the mess in the first place.

Madara's piercing black eyes were gazing upon Itachi with something similar to jealousy. Did he want to fight too? Itachi would've been more than happy to hand over the random break in his sealed-chakras, along with this seemingly meaningless battle.

Thanatos shifted again, this time to the side. Itachi's eyes, which had been counting the number of possible outcomes, casualties, collaterals, and hindrances, flew back to her person, sweeping her for giveaways. What was she thinking? He couldn't seem to get a read on her body language the way he had always been able to during his life.

Thanatos moved faster than Susano'o, and he didn't have the charkas to fight on the offense with such a large defense. He could only dream how the Kazekage of Sunagakure had possibly been able to keep his ultimate defense up at all times without being rendered unconscious daily. Susano'o burst into nothingness, giving Itachi back most of the charkas he had expelled to keep it up as he quickly dodged the incoming sword. He flew forward, managing to grab Matilda's large sword as he ran past it. Now he had something to defend himself with, besides his bare hands. He could really, really use a kunai. Hell, a senbon needle would do.

He parried several blows before it became obvious to him that he couldn't keep this up. Thanatos was worlds stronger than him, and she was going easy on him. However, despite this apparent mercy, he could feel his bones creaking and potentially cracking under the weight of every blow. He activated Amaterasu, concentrating hard on the Goddess' waist while she was in close quarters. The flames erupted around her midriff as she hopped back. Itachi's (and probably everyone else's) eyes widened as Thanatos pressed a hand to her belly, easily dousing the flames. Her clothes hadn't even been singed by the heat. So Amaterasu wasn't going to help him here; not good. In his current state, Amaterasu seemed to be the one technique that took the least amount of chakra and still did the most damage. He highly doubted that a regular Katon would do anything but conceal Thanatos so she could easier move to attack.

He was still calling Polly, hopeful that _maybe_ she would be able to hear him if he thought hard enough. He knew it was pointless, but in case the connection was suddenly patched; he needed her to hear his distress.

The Goddess wouldn't let up in her assault, even if she was moving marginally slower (she was probably toying with him) and probably using much less strength than she would against a stronger opponent. Itachi's wrists were on fire, his elbows beginning to cramp up. The sword seemed to be getting heavier and heavier as he held it. His arms were trembling from the mixture of exhaustion and pain, and he was practically screaming for Polly in his head. The rest of his clan was completely useless; they were somewhere between too scared of getting in trouble to try and help him and barely able to keep themselves from joining in.

Itachi's eyes widened, his lips parting slightly in pain as he felt a deep, throbbing crack in his forearm. He leapt back, Matilda's heavy sword falling to the ground as his back hit a wall. He cradled the freshly broken limb as he leaned heavily against the wall, doing his best to block out the pain. That was something he'd noticed about hell; pain was worse in Hell than he remembered it being on the Mortal plain. He'd broken bones before, during missions and such, but the pain had never been quite so crippling.

Thanatos smirked, leaping towards him and swinging her falcata. He barely had a second to jump out of the way. Like this, he might be able to avoid the blows until Polly came back. Without that ridiculously heavy sword, he would be faster. His eyes briefly swept the crowd around him and Thanatos; he was too far over to the right. He dove out of the way of another incoming blow and got himself closer to the center of the circle the crowd had made. He needed to keep Thanatos' blade as far from his family as possible. It was the least he could do, considering that he'd put them here.

The pain was shooting up his arm at this point; moving around too much was only aggravating the injury. He cursed inwardly; what was taking the Caretakers so long? And why hadn't they picked up on Thanatos' powerful presence? They should've been able to sense her, even from halfway across the realm, right!?

With his Sharingan activated, Itachi could pick up on the small things. Things like the way Thanatos' dusty blue eyes slowly shifted their gaze towards… towards…

_No_

He took off at a dead sprint, ignoring the way his arm was shrieking at him indignantly. He wasn't fast enough; he wasn't going to make it in time he wasn't going to make it in time he wouldn't make it he wouldn't make it no no no no no no no Itachi's shoulder slammed into Mikoto, shoving his mother out of the line of fire. She hadn't seen it coming; not without her Sharingan activated, and Itachi wasn't fast enough to avoid the blow.

Thanatos' sword sank into his abdomen surprisingly easily.

"I-Ita… chi…" His father sounded somewhere between horrified and astounded. Itachi had always had a knack for being able to do the unexpected. Didn't matter. Mother was safe, though she might have a nice bruise later. It would heal, she would be fine. Itachi himself, however, was probably going to die.

Blood filled his mouth and dripped past his clenched teeth. His entire being was trembling and a dull haze was already filling his head.

Thanatos reached up, gripping his shoulder and digging the blade in even further as she leaned forward to mutter into his ear, "Killing the rest of them will be simple once you're out of the way," she spat venomously, "Like stepping on cornered cockroaches."

An increasing amount of pressure against the top of the injury told him she was moving the blade, and his eyes widened as he felt his weight being lifted off the ground. His eyes began to water as he choked out an agonized cry. With a final heave, she lifted him up, pausing when her arm was straight up. His uninjured hand found her shoulder, trying to hold himself up to keep the falcata from digging in any deeper. A coppery taste filled his mouth, spilling out of his lips and staining Thanatos' white shirt.

There was a racket surrounding him; indignant Uchiha's beginning to rise up, thinking individually about trying to take this God down by themselves. He would never have called his family a bunch of idiots, but this definitely wasn't their best idea.

His Sharingan was flickering, and the next thing he knew it was gone. Not having it suddenly was like being blind. Thanatos shifted her weight, pulling from him another whimper of pain before swinging the blade to the left, as if she was throwing a fly off the chilled steel. Itachi hit the ground and kept rolling for several feet before he stilled. The pain was blinding, but he had to keep going. Had to keep fighting. Surely, Polly and the others would be back soon. They had to be. They _had _to be back soon. He wouldn't last much longer, and once he was gone his family would be at this God's mercy. Couldn't let that happen. They'd already been suffering through Hell because of him; he wouldn't let them be done anymore wrong because of him.

"Now that he's out of the way," Thanatos' voice was chilled with malice, "I can do what all us Gods have wanted to do since the day you bastard children were _blessed_." She spat that last word like it was a personal issue. No, no, no. He shifted his good arm, listening to the sound of shuffling feet as his family scooted backwards, cowering. He had to get up. Couldn't let this happen. Get up, Itachi, c'mon. It's not _that_ painful, really.

Somewhere in the fog of unconscious, Itachi stood up. His head was swimming and he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to take even another step forward, but whatever. So long as he kept Thanatos' attention on him, he'd be able to stall for time. The more time stalled for, the better chance of the Caretakers returning.

Thanatos was staring at him, somewhere between annoyed and impressed, "For someone who slaughtered his entire family, you sure are invested in these abominations."

Itachi didn't reply; well, that isn't true. He didn't have a chance to reply. Thanatos dropped her sword, and a second later he had been thrown into a nearby wall. His back cracked the cement walls, and that metallic taste in his mouth was even stronger than ever. Thanatos was walking towards him again, the falcata retrieved.

"I was asked not to kill you, but," she shrugged offhandedly, "It's not like I'll get in trouble for it."

Itachi was already standing again, his breathing ragged as he glanced past Thanatos and set his worn gaze on his mother, father, and best friend.

He managed to force a smile; though he was sure it looked more like a grimace.

"I'll protect you this time," his voice was hoarse and his words weak and tired, but they held more determination than they had ever heard from him, "I promise."

**_Konoha was burning. The heat was overwhelming and it made him sick. The stench of blood filled the air and the sound of screams was incredibly loud. Bodies were falling all around him, and in the center of all the bloodshed stood a raven-haired boy, too familiar to be mistaken. Sasuke's blade was slathered in the crimson blood of his family, his friends, his home. His usual vibrant chakras were stained with black, with hatred and anger._**

**_"Am I going to have to kill you as well?"_ _Juritsu was running, tears streaming down her face. Itachi's blood ran cold as Sasuke turned to face him, his black eyes staring right through Itachi's person. He couldn't see him. He saw only the kindling for his revenge._**

**_An ice-cold hand touched his shoulder, frozen fingers reaching around and gripping his throat. His hands flew up to try and pry that iron grip away from his neck, but he wasn't strong enough. He felt himself being pulled back against someone, chilled lips just barely brushing against his ear._**

**_"You see this?" A voice he didn't recognize snarled in his ear, "This senseless, appalling butchery? You see what you've done to my precious child?"_**

**_Itachi wheezed, trying to breathe past the hand clamped around his throat. Pain ripped through his body, bringing tears to his eyes and taking away the strength he had left. His knees buckled as he collapsed against the person behind him. Some kind of invasive darkness was tearing him apart from the inside out._**

**_Abruptly, the hand on his throat fell away and he was wrenched around violently, held up a good two feet off the ground by the collar of his shirt. His eyes widened, terror striking a cord within his chest. His heart was racing; he'd never felt such a profound fear before. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the fire and the blood and the screams and death and the wreckage and all that he had done to his brother Sasuke wasn't supposed to have done this no he was supposed to have killed Itachi and gone home to Naruto and Juritsu and Sakura and Kakashi and lived his life without fear without pain without anymore bloodshed Sasuke had done enough experienced too much for a child and it was his fault. Itachi's fault. All of it. Always. He hadn't done enough. He never did enough._**

**_Sasuke…_**

This time, Itachi wasn't going to get back up.

His eyes were half-lidded, fingertips numb from blood loss. He hadn't thought that he'd be able to bleed out when he was already dead, but every day was a surprise, he supposed. Itachi couldn't stop shaking, he could barely inhale, and everything_ hurt_. The multitude of broken bones now scattered throughout his body, accompanied by not one, not two, but three stab wounds. His femur was in two separate pieces. He was sure that one of his lungs was going to deflate at any moment.

_I tried. I'm sorry._

Thanatos raised the falcata over her head, and Itachi thought he heard someone call his name.

_Polly Burinchet_

_Please come back_

_Please_

_She's going to kill everyone_

_Help_

_Please_

"ITACHI!"

He slowly shifted his gaze in the direction of the voice he had heard calling his name. Wings. Brilliantly colored hair.

The Caretakers were back.

He would've sat up and cheered with the rest of his clan as Thanatos retreated, but he couldn't really move. Now that he was sure his family was safe, he allowed his eyes to slip shut. Whether or not they opened again wasn't exactly on his list of things to worry about. His head was pounding, agony running electric shockwaves through his veins. The sound of Caretakers yelling directions as they locked down the compound to try and catch Thanatos, counting the zero casualties, and trying to figure out why the newcomer, Uchiha Itachi, was more or less smeared all over the ground.

**_I'll see you soon, Guardian._ **His body was on fire; it felt as though he were swimming in a vat of boiling oil. He could see Sasuke, washing the Shinobi Nations in blood and fire as he continued on his vengeance-fueled rampage. Juritsu, lost and alone in the world as she searched helplessly for someone, anyone… whether it be Sasuke to end her life as well, or perhaps a friend the blood-crazed Uchiha had yet to find.

**_Your time is coming, Itachi. And when the final act comes to a close… you'll play your part to the last scripted detail._**


	6. He Is In Trouble

When he opened his eyes again, the surroundings were that of a hospital. Briefly, he wondered if his death and the events afterwards had been a dream. But, deciding that such a theory was absurd, he slowly shifted against the mattress and pillow, forcing himself into something resembling an upright position. Polly was nowhere in sight, and neither was anyone else for that matter. He could hear voices coming from down the hall, and they seemed like they were coming closer as the seconds progressed. He wondered if they were coming in to have stern words with him.

The fact that he was going to get an earful (among other things) from Polly (at the very least) for the use of his chakras and the battle that took place (even though _none_ of this was his fault, damn it) was obvious. When it happened wasn't nearly as clean-cut, though. Neither was the degree to which he'd been yelled at (or savagely beaten, tortured, burned, boiled, crucified… whatever they did to people who broke the rules in Hell). Those answers would have to wait.

As he had suspected, the voices coming from the hall came into his room. Polly, a man in a white coat who was probably a doctor, and two men in rather dressy clothing that Itachi could only deduce to be very important people. Itachi watched them walk in, more or less dispersing around the room. The two officials-of-whatever stepped to the right side of his bed, while Polly stopped by the foot of the bed and the doctor stayed beside the door.

"Make it snappy," the man grunted, "Like I keep telling you, he's still a patient, which puts him under-…"

"The care of Apollo and Askelpios, yes. I heard you the first time, Raphael," The dark-haired, seemingly higher-up of the two higher-ups cut in irritably.

"Itachi," Polly's voice attracted his attention immediately, and she indicated the two men at his bedside, "This is Lord Tacitus and The King of Hell, Lucifer."

Well, that definitely explained why they looked so important. They _were_ important. Lucifer's bright red eyes did a sweep over Itachi's likely haggard person, making calculations and deductions and whatever other kinds of things Kings of Hell thought about while looking over lawbreakers.

Unsure of what could possibly be said in his situation, Itachi decided to remain quiet. Tacitus was looking rather seriously at the monitors anchored around the room, one of which was beeping oddly similarly to a heart monitor from the hospitals back on the mortal plain.

He thought back to the strange rectangular box from the Senders. Well, they might've been understaffed, but the afterlife was technologically advanced, that was for sure.

"Uchiha Itachi, correct?" Itachi nodded mutely at the addressing, "What happened, exactly? The reports have been inconsistent, and before we decide take you to the Pit, I'd like to get a feel for what happened from you're point of view."

Well, that was simple enough. Itachi glanced at Polly only briefly before replying, "I was attacked. There was someone hiding out in my room after the Caretakers departed to do their duty." Decided to keep it brief and frank, Itachi explained himself, "Her name was Matilda Schlovanski. Before she was able to kill me, someone else showed up – Thanatos is what she called herself. I was defending myself and the rest of the clan, mainly because they didn't think to get out of the line of fire."

"Why didn't you call Polly?" The white-haired man, Tacitus, spoke next, "Surely you've been made aware of the summoning contract?"

Itachi sighed softly, ignoring the way his head was starting to pound, "I did… well, I was. The whole time. Somewhere around the point where I was nearing complete defeat, I decided that she probably couldn't hear me because something or someone was interfering with our connection." As those words left his mouth, the headache became just about blinding. He diverted his attention away from Lucifer and Tacitus as his ears began to ring, reaching up a hand to massage the bridge of his nose.

"And your chakras? They were supposed to be sealed."

"They were," Itachi replied, "I'm not sure why, but they were functional and accessible again after Matilda blew up my room."

There was a pause as the headache began to subside, and Itachi blinked away the dots in his vision as he returned his gaze to Lucifer. The man was frowning, looking a bit confused by Itachi's words.

Polly cottoned on to his staring, "Is something wrong, my King?"

Lucifer didn't reply right away, but when he did, it surprised Itachi, "Why did you protect your family? You were assigned to a level 5 because you heartlessly slaughtered them, without a known reason."

The silence that fell over the room was stifling, and Itachi's ears began to ring again. He managed to ignore the pain long enough to reply, though his voice was tight with pain, "I didn't kill them because I wanted to."

Polly's brow furrowed as she glanced over at Itachi, something in her eyes telling him that she wasn't sure if she believed his words – was the supposed lie he had told to Shisui true? Or should she trust the Life Summary that she'd read? The headache spiked then, reaching a level of inexpressible agony. He leaned forward, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes as they started to sting and water.

**_Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!_**

It was Raphael who spoke next, completely interrupting the conversation that might have ensued, "That's enough. Get out of my hospital, both of you." His voice was reserved, though it held a dangerous undertone. Itachi was slightly surprised to hear someone disrespecting the King of Hell so obviously, but declined to think too much more about it. His head felt like it would split like a watermelon as he shifted his hands to press them over his ringing ears. He almost didn't hear Lucifer speak on his way out of the room.

"You will be made aware of the Court's decision within the next two thousand, eight hundred and eighty minutes. Good day to you."

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

**2880 minutes is the equivalent of 48 hours. Like Itachi observed previously - they do everything in minutes in Hell.  
><strong>

**More hallucinations! Woohoo!  
><strong>


	7. He Is Damned

When he walked into the courtroom, Lucifer was greeted with a relative amount of racket. With Tacitus trailing behind him, they walked across the room and took their respective seats.

Lucifer's red eyes swept over the room, taking in those around him – as the matter was solely centered in Hell, only those associated with her and her sister realms were to be at the sentencing.

Hades of the Pit; Lillith of Purgatory; Iblis of the Lake of Fire, and of course Lucifer of Hell were all present. Tacitus, who was Lucifer's secretary and constant companion, was a usual sight in the courtroom, even though he was technically not qualified to be there. However, considering the fact that his signature on a document of Hell was just as useful as a document signed by the King of Hell himself, no one really minded his presence.

Chaos was supposed to come to the meetings of all Courts, no matter whether they were the business of Heaven or Hell. However, it was also extremely unusual for Chaos to actually leave the Desideratum, where she spent most of her time.

_Is she still a she? Or has she changed back to the form of a man again?_ Lucifer pondered, frowning slightly, _it's always difficult to use the right pronouns with that person._

"He should be sent to the Pit," Iblis was growling in his deep voice, "What kind of Rulers are we if we cannot even keep up to our own rules? He has broken a fundamental law; therefore he should receive the highest punishment."

Lucifer raised an eyebrow, and was about to state his argument when Lillith chimed in, "I disagree. The unbinding of his chakras wasn't something he did himself, neither was his inability to call his Caretaker. The records show that there were no anomalies until Matilda showed up."

"Besides that," Lucifer added, "You must think of what exactly happened. Accord to eyewitness reports, as well as his own story, he was protecting his family and himself from harm. He's been a model Resident since his arrival in Hell; I see no reason to assume that he would have set up a situation that nearly killed him on purpose."

Hades snorted, smirking lackadaisically, "That doesn't change the fact that he broke the law, Avgerinos," he chuckled lightly, his yellow eyes showing his bittersweet excitement for something to pique his interest. "What did we do the last time someone did this?"

Lillith narrowed her eyes, "The last person who broke the law was Eve, Hades, remember? And before that was Perseph-…"

"Do not speak her name in my presence, _Lillith._"

"Lillith, don't provoke him. The last thing we need is a fight in the courtroom. Chaos would have all of our heads for making a ruckus." Lucifer stated calmly, immediately silencing the incoming battle.

Iblis spoke next, his deep voice often allowing him to be shouted down when others were talking – hence why he always waited for the conversation to die before speaking, "Perhaps it would be reasonable to hand him a lesser punishment. Something severe enough to make him truly regret, but not something as permanent as the Pit."

"That's an idea," Lillith drawled, "After all, who was the last person we pulled out of the Pit?"

Hades glowered at her darkly, "Izanagi was the last to escape the Pit, Lillith. No one had done it before him, and no one has done it since."

"My point exactly. If we punish him severely but make sure he knows that it could've been much worse, he will-…"

Abruptly and interrupting Lillith's opinion, a chill fell over the room. Shivers ran up the inhabitants' spines, and the door blew open, banging against the wall.

Chaos had arrived.

She walked into the room with a mixture of fire and ice in her eyes; anger, hatred. Something was awry, clearly, though no one was daring enough to ask. Chaos walked in and sat down at the center throne, crossing her ankle over her knee and getting comfortable in her seat.

"Hades," she spoke evenly, though the dangerous undertone to her voice was more than audible, "How many do you host in the Pit?"

"My Lady," Iblis narrowed his eyes, slightly suspicious, "We have been discussing sending the boy to a different punish-…"

"_Silence, _Iblis," Chaos commanded, "Hades, answer my question."

Hades' face was pale, his smirk wiped from his expression. He was no longer slouching in his seat, nor leaning on his elbows. He saw upright and stiff, his eyes betraying his anxiety, "Eighty-seven."

"And how many underlings do you have to feed?"

"F-…" his voice caught in his throat for only a second, "Four hundred and seventeen, my Lady."

"So, they aren't eating very well, are they?"

Hades thought about that for a moment, "W-well, considering the healing rate of the inmates… I'd say they were eating reasonably well. They've stopped maturing, so I can't say they're eating as much as they should, but it's not as though they were st-…"

"Enough, Hades. You've answered the question." Chaos turned to Lillith sharply, startling the serpent slightly, "Lillith, where is Thanatos?"

Lillith blanched, "We haven't been able to pinpoint her location within any of the Realms from the top to the bottom, but there is some word that she's hiding on the Mortal Plain."

"You realize how vast the Mortal Plain is, don't you, Lillith?" The violet-haired Mother Goddess scowled, "You realize how many worlds there are to search among the Mortal Plain?"

"I-… I do, my Lady."

"Then you know you're probably not going to find her."

"Yes, my Lady…"

"And what of this Matilda Schlovanski? I've never heard of such a demoness."

"We haven't been able to find her either, though witnesses say that Thanatos killed her."

Chaos raised an eyebrow and sighed, "You only have the witness statements of the other Uchiha, and the criminal himself. How likely is it that their statements were universally correct?"

Lucifer jumped in at the point, looking fairly indignant, "I mean no disrespect, my Lady, but my Caretakers are not so foolish as to misread a liar. Besides that, Uchiha Itachi was more than severely injured; he was fading by the time he arrived at the medical facilities." He said sharply, "Are you really going to disregard the severity of his condition _just _because you cannot speak to the pathologically fraudulent Thanatos?"

"No, Lucifer," Chaos stated, no longer bothering to hide her smoldering gaze, "I'm not disregarding the severity of his condition. _However_," she turned her frozen gaze upon him, a flicker of amusement showing as he stiffened apprehensively, "I'm also not going to disregard his unadorned _disrespect_ for the rules that I, Chaos, created.

"I put these laws in place to discourage riots and rebellion amongst Residents. And you're going to disgrace the name of your Mother and her word? The boy shall be given the punishment that suits his crime."

Weakly, Lillith attempted to speak, "My Lady…"

"He's going to the Pit." Her palm fell upon the arm of her throne with a thunderous din that shook the room. Court was over, and the decision had been made.


	8. The Games Begin

He was going to the Pit, and that was that. He had broken one of the basic, fundamental laws of Hell – purposefully or not – and therefore he was to be punished as brutally as they did in Hell. That meant the Pit. Itachi didn't know what the Pit was, but, like anyone truly feeling the guilt and regret of an eternity, he accepted the punishment with grace.

Polly saw him off. It was unsurprising that he was the only one on the small ferry; who else broke the rules of Hell, after all? What kind of idiot did that? Apparently, he wasn't as prodigious as he had been told.

At some point across that river of flames, he was shrouded in darkness. A laugh echoed around him and he felt himself being lifted away from what might've been the rest of the universe, or it might've just been that ferry. He couldn't see anything around himself, and it was cold. The sounds of distant screams reached Itachi's keen ears, and he slowly turned, looking blindly for the source.

Darkness washed around his ankles… a different, darker than black kind of evil. It pooled around him, shadowy hands reaching up and gripping his legs, his hands and wrists. Where it touched, he felt it burn and instinctively pulled away. He looked down, or at least, in the direction where he could feel his feet, and the ground around him lit up. It was as if someone had dropped a match on the oily blackness that had been washing around him.

But it wasn't fire around him; no, it was below him. His eyes widened, fear striking a painful cord in his chest. He could feel his knees begin to shake and his palms start to sweat. The fire was surrounding a crowd of people, all screaming and crying as blood pooled around their ankles. The shadows around them tore at their bodies, monsters gripping at their skulls and ripping out chunks of flesh that regenerated after only a few seconds. The pain was eternal. The sufferers were crawling on top of each other, each desperate to reach up and grab something to get away from the pain.

He felt himself start to sink, the darkness reaching up and wrapping tightly around his limps, pulling him down. His heart told him he deserved such a punishment, but his body was frantic to escape. He writhed in the vice grip, unable to inhale past the burning hot air around him. He wheezed, reaching up a hand and trying to find something to grab hold of, but there was nothing there. He couldn't even muster the air to curse or cry or scream or whatever it was that people did when they panicked.

He was already up to his waist in the oily darkness and everything up to his hips was feeling the scalding heat of the fire. His hands reached out closer to the surface that he was sinking through, looking for a ground that he could dig his nails into. But there wasn't one. His hand sank through the shadows and into that realm, to the heat.

Something from beneath him reached up and grabbed his ankle, and he let out a sharp cry as it dugs its claws in and tore at his flesh. The extra weight was what that darkness needed, and he sank in the rest of the way, falling and falling and falling. The people scattered away from his falling person, none of them wanting to be knocked down. The screaming and crying was deafening, and the pain was immediate. Tearing and ripping, breaking and burning…

They were pulling at him like two dogs that had just gotten a steak, blood dripping from the injuries. They healed too fast, he wanted to just die; he didn't mind the idea of disappearing now. Why had he bothered defending the Uchiha? He should've just let Matilda kill him.

It seemed to go on forever before it suddenly stopped. He collapsed to his knees alongside everyone else that had been released from the torment. The monsters and shadows were scampering away into the fire, afraid that they were in trouble. His body was wracked with chills and he thought he might break from the weight of the terror. He lifted his arms weakly and wrapped them around his body, hugging himself as he choked out frightened whimpers. Was it over? For now? Forever? Were they going to let him go now?

The sound of footsteps reached him, _oh god who is that **what** is that don't come over here go away leave me alone leave me alone_

"It's alright," a man's voice called out gently, "No need to be afraid, my darlings. I'm not here for you."

He heard a cry, and then a scream and the creatures were back. Maybe if he held still, they wouldn't see him. Maybe they'd leave him alone if he just didn't move.

He could see the smoky shadows shifting around him restlessly and his eyes welled up with frightened tears. He bowed his head further, shaking all over and trying to ignore the way the creatures were looking at him with some mixture of hunger and curiosity. The toe of a boot came into his line of vision, a hand grabbing his shirt and dragging him to his feet. The weight of their presence was choking him. He gazed into a pair of haunting yellow eyes, their brilliance only overshadowed by the amount of hate that glowed from their depths.

Someone seemed to realize that this man holding Itachi up was a lifeline, and then another person did as well. Soon, they were climbing over each other trying to get to him; only to find that they're hands would burn and ignite when they touched him. Itachi's eyes were wide, his shaking refusing to subside.

"Let the games begin."

Itachi opened his eyes, greeted by the brightly shining moon and the stars around it. Slowly, he sat up, confused. Where was Sasuke? Where was _he_? The last thing he remembered was their fight, giving Sasuke his ocular powers, and then darkness. He remembered being blind, though that had been a different darkness from when he'd passed out in front of his little brother. So why was his vision back and his injuries healed? And, without the intention of being repetitive, where _was_ he?

He stood up, looking around the area. Something seemed… familiar about this place. He glanced to his left, activating his Sharingan (though the sensation of using his chakras this was seemed oddly foreign to him) and looking around the night.

He caught sight of a mountainside, and his eyes widened at the familiar Hokage carvings. Konoha? No… impossible… This was impossible. What happened?! The buildings of the place he had once called home were in ruins, burned black from what must've been a fire. The stench of blood filled the air, and as he looked around he could see an astonishing number of mounds… graves. Someone had been making them all graves? Judging by the sheer number of them around him… so many people… but why? Who? Who did it? It couldn't have been Sasuke, right? It _couldn't_ have been. Sasuke… he didn't know about… that… right?

He could feel a strange tugging in his chest, and then a sense of direction pulling him northwest. He cleared his mind of the questions exploding in his head, and the first thing that came to the forefront of his mind was _Juritsu_. He didn't know why, or how, but she was alive. He looked around briefly before starting off in her direction. As he came closer, he was able to see her chakras in the darkness. She was asleep, but this wasn't a safe place for her to be at night.

He stopped by her side and touched her shoulder. She was too tired to wake up now… he was sure she hadn't slept in days, just judging by her appearance. Gingerly, he scooped her into his arms, ignoring the weakness that he felt in his limbs. A nervous tremor wracked his body as he looked around the shadows. Something was frighteningly familiar about the way they shifted and moved around him. He swallowed the odd lump in his throat and started walking, looking around for a standing structure. Juritsu's house would probably still be intact… she lived in a small house that stood on a smaller mountainside by the outskirts of the village.

He got her into a bed – probably hers, judging by the room – and spent a moment familiarizing himself with the house. Sasuke was far away, but safe.

He reached up a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose as his head began to hurt. He deactivated his Sharingan and sat down on the couch in the living room. For some reason, he didn't think that he was going to get any sleep tonight…

At least, not in this complete darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

**Congratulations! You've completed _The Arriving_ by _KRenee_! **

**Your next move should be to find the sequel, _The Fated_ by _G-ChanSanKun_ and continue the storyline!  
><strong>


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